


Tin Heart

by CoryJoAnne



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Humanstuck, M/M, more tags as they become relevent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-28
Updated: 2013-01-28
Packaged: 2017-11-27 08:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/660006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoryJoAnne/pseuds/CoryJoAnne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Equius left his past behind in the big city, opening a shop in a small town in hopes of starting a new life. In the gray of the new community though, things seem dull until he finds a light that brightens up his days. Fascinated by the kindness of the good-natured milk man, Equius finds an inspiration and happiness he hasn't had in a long time. Darkness looms at every corner though, threatening the innocence that brought warmth to his cold life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tin Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magebird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magebird/gifts).



He was the first person he noticed when Equius moved into the small town.  
Where everyone else seemed washed out, cold, on automatic, the young man held a certain warmth, a certain life. Where so many seemed to be a copy of some strange cutout, only minor differences between them, there he was with his mohawk, and his bright eyes.  
It didn't take long after he had settled into the old repair shop for him to learn his name. Everyone knew the young man who brought the milk into the town every morning, and it only took one customer to get the information he sought. His name was Tavros Nitram.  
Equius would see him as he got ready in the morning, driving on his little half beaten truck with the sound of bottles clinking together nearly musically in the bed. From his open window he could hear him whistle a tune as he went down the quiet street, dropping off bottles on the back porch of each house. Equius would smile as he watched him go, knowing it was he who brought the warmth to the town when the sun could not.  
When he would go out of town he would see him standing in the field among the cattle he raised. He was always sitting on a rock, or wading through tall grass, and he would recall seeing him constructing a panpipe from the reeds in the nearby stream, or whittling away at some branch in such a pleasant peace. He would drive by, blue eyes trailing on him until he was out of sight, and he would always find himself whistling a familiar tune the rest of the way to the city to pick up the parts for his latest project.  
Equius was not alone in his admiration for Tavros though. His newest (and his only) friend in town, a sassy young woman named Nepeta Leijon, made sure he knew this. She was the one to go to if you needed to know something in the town, and as soon as she found out that he was interested in the boy, she let him know all about him.  
His best friend was the girl with hair like wool who tended the sheep in the next pasture over. They would sit on the fence telling stories for hours as they watched their livestock graze. Having known each other since childhood, it was speculated they would marry one day and join their farms.  
Then there was the girl with the bad eye and the spider tattoo. Fowl tempered and sly, no one knew why Tavros let her hang around. They seemed to get on well enough though, and Equius recalled seeing them drink in the local pub together with a strange feeling in his chest.  
And there were others, many others. Tavros was friendly to everyone, and no one failed to light up and become animated when he was around. Nepeta told him that he would constantly audition for the town plays, his favorite being Peter Pan. He would make homemade ice cream and little goat cheeses at home and give them away to children on the street. He was the picture of kindness and charity, and Equius could only think that this young man would be taken advantage of, ruined anywhere else.  
Known for being a man of few words, Equius had few chances to engage in conversation with him. Despite the small size of the town, their two lives seemed to run parallel to each other, never intersecting. It aggravated Equius to no end, though in same breath he was thankful. His silence wasn't so much from lack of things to say as much as the lack of grace to say it with; if he was given the chance, he would be sure to embarrass himself thoroughly.  
Equius was given his chance though, and didn’t do nearly as bad as he thought. It would come one morning shortly after he opened the shop. As he sat behind the glass case tinkering absentmindedly with a watch, the bell rang at the front of his shop. Looking up curiously, he was surprised to see him, the young man who occupied his thoughts so thoroughly, sweating and somewhat out of breath at the door.  
" Ah uhm..." he set the watch aside and stood to greet him.” How may I help you?" he wondered why he hadn't heard the other's truck that morning, or when he came up to the shop even, but as he thought about it he could figure what happened.  
"Ah, you are uh, Equius right?" there was a friendly, albeit awkward smile on Tavros's face, and Equius couldn't help but think about how charming it was.  
"Correct. And you are Mister Nitram? What can I do for you?" he spoke evenly, somewhat proud that he had managed not to blank out at the last minute. The other gave a funny look though, and when he laughed a bit Equius couldn't help but break out in a small sweat wondering if he had done something wrong.  
"Wow uh, not many people call me that. Call me Tavros." his laugh faded off a bit as he walked up to the glass case, looking in it a bit absentmindedly. “I uh, my car wouldn't start this morning and uh, I guess I normally fix it up myself but I think it's beyond anything I can do at this point. Nepeta told me you were pretty good at that stuff though and uh, I guess I was wondering if you could help?"  
Equius looked him over briefly, holding back a laugh as he realized what happened.  
"Did you walk all the way here Mister Nitram?" he couldn't help it, a small, awkwardly lopsided smile found its way to his face.  
"Uh, yes?"  
Standing up, Equius moved around the case that served as a counter and put a sign in the front of the shop that said he was gone. Locking the door, he motioned Tavros to follow.  
"Come, my car is this way.” He held open the door to the garage and workspace. “And you do realize you could have just called and saved yourself the trouble."  
"Oh uh... I guess that would have been a better idea."


End file.
